"The emperor does not want hungry soldiers", "the army will disperse without food", "before the soldiers and horses move, food and grass go first", these are all famous sayings that prove the importance of food. No matter at any time, food is important. It is a necessary condition for survival. Although China has been a big country in cooking since ancient times, those various dishes are the patent of the royal family. Judging from the situation of past dynasties, it would be good if ordinary people can eat. According to records, a minister once asked the emperor for advice because there was too much food for the treasury to hold. The emperor only responded with eight words, which impressed the minister so much that he fell into admiration and became a legend for generations.
The Tang Dynasty was famous for its strong national power and prosperous economy. The rule of Zhenguan and the prosperous Kaiyuan era were examples praised by later generations. But what many people overlook is that the Sui Dynasty before the Tang Dynasty also left a strong mark in the history books. The existence of the Sui Dynasty is not prominent in history. It was a unified dynasty that inherited the Southern and Northern Dynasties and initiated the Tang Dynasty. It only experienced two emperors, Yang Jian and Yang Guang. However, it was in this short period of 38 years that the Sui Dynasty carried out drastic reforms and pushed the country's economy to its peak.
In 581 AD, Emperor Jing of the Northern Zhou Dynasty abdicated the throne to Yang Jian, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty was declared overthrown. Subsequently, Yang Jian named the country "Sui", made his capital Daxing City (Xi'an, Shaanxi Province), and called himself "Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty". Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was an emperor who advocated frugality. He understood from the beginning that "since ancient times, emperors have not been very luxurious and can live a long life." In the palace, he did not let his concubines and maids wear cumbersome jewelry. Only clothes made of cloth can be worn, and gold, silver, and jade materials are not allowed as accessories.
In addition, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was also "a meritocracy". He once sent people to inspect 52 states in Hebei and punished more than 200 corrupt officials. At the same time, he deleted some tortures left over from the previous dynasty. Promote benevolent government. However, even if Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty took various measures, the improvement of the country's economic level was not very significant. After several personal inspections, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty unexpectedly discovered that the phenomenon of farmers concealing their household registration and defrauding the old and the small was extremely serious. Many farmers were avoiding work. This was the fundamental reason why the country's grain output had not increased.
In response, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty implemented the policy of "Da Suo Mao Yue", which was a series of measures to rectify household registration and taxes. Officials went to each household to personally check the farmer's appearance, determine whether his or her age was correct, and finally register him or her in the register. In 583, 443,000 missing men were found in the country's police force. Including women, the elderly and children, the total population was 1,641,500. This move by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty liberated a huge labor force from the hands of the powerful, and also made local officials dare not conceal the report, greatly liberating the labor force.
Due to the surge in the number of working people, food production across the country has also increased exponentially, and the country's granary is no longer enough to store such a large amount of food. Therefore, some ministers asked Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty: What should I do if there is too much food and the treasury cannot hold it? After hearing this, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty not only did not blame the minister for his poor ability, but even said three good things in a row. Finally, he said to the ministers with sincerity and sincerity: It is better to accumulate in others than to hide in the treasury.
After that, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty ordered people to build Xingluo Cang, Liyang Cang, Guangtong Cang and other granaries, with a total grain reserve of more than one million dan. By the 11th year of Zhenguan, the grain left by the Sui Dynasty in Xijing's treasury had not been exhausted and was still being used by the Tang Dynasty. In addition, in 1969, our country discovered the ruins of Hanjiacang, the Sui Dynasty granary in Luoyang, covering an area of ??450,000 square meters. One of the granaries contained 500,000 kilograms of carbonized millet. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty originally That sentence has been passed down as a saying throughout the ages.